Hormone Metabolism and Signaling in Plants

Plant Hormones: Biosynthesis and Mechanisms of Action is based on research funded by the Chinese government's National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). This book brings a fresh understanding of hormone biology, particularly molecular mechanisms driving plant hormone actions. With growing understanding of hormone biology comes new outlooks on how mankind values and utilizes the built-in potential of plants for improvement of crops in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. This book is a comprehensive description of all major plant hormones: how they are synthesized and catabolized; how they are perceived by plant cells; how they trigger signal transduction; how they regulate gene expression; how they regulate plant growth, development and defense responses; and how we measure plant hormones. This is an exciting time for researchers interested in plant hormones. Plants rely on a diverse set of small molecule hormones to regulate every aspect of their biological processes including development, growth, and adaptation. Since the discovery of the first plant hormone auxin, hormones have always been the frontiers of plant biology. Although the physiological functions of most plant hormones have been studied for decades, the last 15 to 20 years have seen a dramatic progress in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of hormone actions. The publication of the whole genome sequences of the model systems of Arabidopsis and rice, together with the advent of multidisciplinary approaches has opened the door to successful experimentation on plant hormone actions. - Offers a comprehensive description of all major plant hormones including the recently discovered strigolactones and several peptide hormones - Contains a chapter describing how plant hormones regulate stem cells - Offers a fresh understanding of hormone biology, particularly molecular mechanisms driving plant hormone actions - Discusses the built-in potential of plants for improvement of crops in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner

Dr. Jiayang Li was awarded the Degree of Bachelor of Agronomy from Anhui Agricultural University in 1982, the Degree of Master of Science from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1984, and PhD in Biology from Brandeis University, USA, in 1991. After completing his postdoctoral research in the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) at Cornell University, Dr. Li was recruited as a Professor of plant molecular genetics by IGDB in 1994. Dr. Li's laboratory is mainly interested in the molecular genetics of higher plant development with a focus on the biosynthesis and action of plant hormones including auxin, brassinosteroid and strigolactones. Dr. Li has made seminal contributions to establishing forward genetics approaches to understand rice growth habit and to improve rice yield and quality through rational design, with his achievements receiving world-wide attention from scientific websites and public media. His achievements have also been widely recognized by scientists and his publications have been highlighted in commentaries and cited by review articles, becoming a Thomson-Reuters Highly Cited Researcher in the field of Plant and Animal Sciences. Dr. Li served as the Director General of IGDB from 1999 to 2004, Vice President of CAS from 2004 to 2011, and President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Vice-Minister of Agriculture for the People's Republic of China from 2011 to 2016. Dr Li was elected a Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2001, a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in 2004, a Foreign Associate of the USA National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2011, a Member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 2012, a Foreign Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2013, and a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 2015.